One Black Sheep
by theturtlemoves
Summary: Andromeda Black was always the dutiful daughter, the submissive one. Why then, at eighteen, did she run off to marry a muggleborn? This is her story. R&R.
1. Prologue

**One Black Sheep**

_Diclaimer: This author does not want this story to result in Harry Potter and the Case of Copyright Infringement, so let's all agree that this is the product of the creative genius of JK Rowling, as usual. I do not, nor have I ever staked claim that I own any of these characters. _

_On with the story!_

Prologue

Eighteen-year old Andromeda Black stood in the middle of the bedroom that, until that afternoon, she had shared with her older sister Bellatrix. It was dark – the curtains were drawn and the only light came from the wand she held loosely in her left hand. The walls and beds were bare. Bella's things had been packed away in preparation for her wedding to Rodolphus Lestrange.

Andromeda had returned from said wedding and quietly packed all of her own things. Now they sat in her trunk in the centre of the room, waiting.

She shivered. Outside, it was beginning to rain – she could hear the faint sound of water hitting the roof above her head. She could scarcely believe what she was doing. She'd always been the dutiful daughter, the submissive one. Her one and only slur on the family name had been her allocation to Ravenclaw house and not Slytherin – since then she'd tried her best to make up for it by doing just as she was told, all the while keeping her head down and not making any noise, lest someone notice that, in fact, she was not at all who she appeared to be.

But she could pretend no longer. She was not cut out for lies and deceit. She was not who they thought she was and she was not going to stay here to get caught up in what they were doing. Andromeda may have been the last person they would expect to speak out against it but as it turned out, she was going to be the first.

She took out her wand and shrunk her belongings until they would fit in her pocket. She wouldn't take any chances tonight. She didn't know how fast she would have to run, but she knew that she could not allow herself to be caught at any cost.

With her hand on the door handle, she took a deep breath. This was it.

For a moment, she couldn't move. And then, silently, she slipped out into the hall. Her footfalls were silenced by the thick green carpet.

Green. Every damn thing was always green. How she hated bloody green. Stirred on by this thought, she descended the main staircase, careful to avoid the creaky stair halfway down. The house slept peacefully as the rain drummed against the windows. In the pale light of her wand, Andromeda stood in the foyer and took her last look around at the house she had always called home.

She sighed as she realised that leaving this place would not be the most difficult thing she would ever have to do. In fact, she was quite relieved – it struck her as sad that this should be the case.

'_Nox_,' she whispered, and the light from her wand was extinguished.

She turned her back on her family home and her old life for good, and slipped out into the chilly rain.

The house slept on, as though nothing had happened.


	2. Chapter the first

**One Black Sheep**

_Diclaimer: This author does not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters within this story, nor any of the settings nor the basic plotline and certainly not the ending. _

_I don't own ANYTHING, ok? Now can we get on with it?_

_A/N: Not all updates will be this quick. Next story to be updated will, hopefully, be 'Up to no Good'. 'Loved and Lost' is on a slight hiatus until I get over the emotional distress caused by the last chapter._

**Chapter the first: In which Ted finally makes some headway in Charms, and Andromeda learns something new about muggles.**

**1967**

Theodore Tonks, more colloquially known as Ted, stormed into the Ravenclaw common room. He threw himself into an armchair next to his pal, Fabian Prewett, who looked up with a bored expression.

'Something bothering you, Ted?' Fabian asked calmly. Ted sent him a withering look.

'Some Slytherin git tripped me up outside the library. My ink bottle smashed, and I got ink all over my robes.' He muttered a few choice swear words to himself before continuing. 'Of course, no one bothered to try and help me except some stupid first year who ended up setting my sleeve on fire.' He held up his singed sleeve as evidence for Fabian before falling back into the chair and raising his eyes to the ceiling. 'Honestly Fabian – being muggle-born is more trouble than it's worth.'

Fabian tried to fix a sympathetic expression onto his thin face. 'That's too bad, mate,' he said, but Ted got the distinct impression that he was trying not to laugh. He raised an eyebrow at his friend.

As predicted, Fabian burst out laughing.

'Great to know that you find it so damn funny,' Ted grumbled, throwing a quill at him. Fabian caught it – his reflexes were excellent after three years as Keeper on the Ravenclaw quidditch team.

'Aw, c'mon Ted. It is pretty funny,' he grinned. 'Besides, you don't care about those Slytherin idiots, do you? They're a bunch of prats, the whole lot of 'em.'

Ted smiled. In truth, he was grateful to Fabian for making light of the situation. Somehow the constant torment Ted endured because of his heritage (or lack thereof, as it was made out to be) was more easily taken into his stride after Fabian had turned it into a joke.

'Yeah, they are,' he agreed.

'Did you get much work done?' Fabian had decided that the time was ripe for a subject change.

Ted shrugged. 'A little. I'm still not quite sure about what I'm supposed to be writing for that essay of Flitwick's.' He sighed. He'd always been hopeless at Charms, and with their OWLs fast approaching he knew he would have to get a whole lot better, and fast, if he wanted to make the grade.

'Well, I can't help you, sorry,' Fabian shrugged. 'I've got no idea myself. Thought I might ask Andromeda Black about it – she's always getting top marks in Charms.'

Ted pulled his Charms textbook out of his bag and stared gloomily at the ink-splattered cover.

'Well, if you find anything out from her, you make sure to tell me,' he said despondently. 'She won't speak to me, you know; not since her sister told her I was muggle-born.'

'Yeah, I always thought it was a shame,' Fabian said. 'These pureblood families stick together like glue, you know. Andromeda would be a nice girl if she wasn't so stupid about muggle-borns.'

Ted smiled glumly. 'What can you do, huh? I think I'm going to head off to bed – I've had enough for one day.' He shoved his textbook back into his bag and stood up. Fabian nodded and indicated the unfinished Arithmancy assignment on his lap.

'I'll finish this up before I join you,' he said.

'All right. See you at breakfast.'

'Night, Ted.'

-

The next day was bright and sunny in the way that only Sunday can be. Andromeda Black sat at her favourite table in the library, next to a large window which overlooked the grounds and sent the late autumn sunshine streaming across her auburn hair, warming her face and shoulders. She idly drew little doodles in the margin of her notes, feeling content to remain there for the rest of the day, even though she had already completed most of the set assignments for the week.

She was so relaxed that she didn't even notice that Fabian Prewett was in the library until he appeared in the seat next to hers.

'Afternoon, Andromeda,' he said cordially. Andromeda quickly recovered from her shock and smiled politely. She and the other members of her house had never exactly gotten along, but Fabian Prewett would at least speak to her on occasion. He wasn't what she would call a friend, but she didn't object to him in any way.

'Hello Fabian. Is there something that I can help you with?'

Fabian nodded. 'Yeah, there is. I wondered if I could talk to you about the Charms essay – I can't work it out, and you're the best in the year.'

Andromeda blushed – she was not entirely accustomed to compliments.

'Oh, thank you Fabian. That's nice of you to say.'

'Well, you _are_,' Fabian grinned. 'Anyway, Ted and I have been absolutely going mental trying to work this thing out … have you written any of yours yet?'

'Some of it,' Andromeda said modestly, digging in her bag for the piece of parchment she had been using for her essay. She found it, and placed it on the table in front of Fabian. 'It's mainly about what Flitwick was talking about in class last week, but there's a really good book – here, I'll write down the name of it for you.' She scribbled down the name of the book and handed it over. Fabian took it gratefully.

'Thanks, Andromeda, you're wonderful. Ted's going to be thrilled, I think he was considering cutting off his own hand so that he could get out of writing it.'

'Ted? You mean Theodore Tonks?' Andromeda asked innocently.

'Mmmm,' Fabian said in a non-committal sort of way, as he scanned Andromeda's nearly-completed essay. 'This is great stuff.'

'Thank you,' Andromeda said again, almost absently. 'He's not very good at Charms, is he?'

'Who's that?'

'Theodore Tonks.'

Fabian looked up with a warning expression which caused Andromeda to recoil slightly.

'He's good at other stuff. He's excellent at Transfiguration, and he's got a real knack for Astronomy. Not to mention that he's a prefect, and a decent bloke.'

'I … I know that. I … I was just … just saying …'

'I don't want to have this conversation with you, Andromeda,' Fabian concluded after a few moments of awkward silence. 'For a start, you're in my house. And you're a nice girl, albeit one with a few strange ideas. So if you don't mind, I'm going to change the subject before I'm tempted to draw my wand on you, which is something I'm sure I'd live to regret.' His light brown eyes flashed dangerously. Andromeda nodded nervously.

'Certainly, Fabian, whatever you want.' She smiled weakly.

Fabian nodded curtly to the window. 'Nice weather for the quidditch game next weekend,' he noted. 'Have you heard much about this new Gryffindor chaser?'

Andromeda shrugged and went back to her own study, mainly to avoid Fabian's sharp eyes. She knew that he didn't think much of her beliefs – or rather, the beliefs of her family, which Andromeda had always been taught to respect as though they were law …

'He's only second-year, as I understand it?' she said lightly.

'Yeah, that's him. He must be good … Potter? I think that's what Davies said his name was.'

'That's it,' Andromeda assured him. 'He's friends with my younger cousin.'

'Oh? I wasn't aware you had cousins in Gryffindor?'

'Just the one,' Andromeda said quickly, though she was not sure why she was so fast to correct Fabian as he had looked at her with a new kind of vague interest that almost suggested that he, first among those she had spoken to about Sirius, was mildly impressed with the idea of a Black being in Gryffindor house, rather than disgusted or repulsed.

'Er … yes. Sirius. He's something of a … a Black sheep, aha.'

Fabian chuckled at her joke. 'No kidding. So have you met this Potter character, then?'

Andromeda shook her head. 'No, although he and my cousin put a dungbomb in my sister Bella's schoolbag about two weeks ago.'

At this, Fabian burst out laughing. Andromeda was torn between joining in laughing and looking reproachful at him for being amused at the assault of her sister. She settled for smiling nervously, which was sort of her default expression anyway.

Fabian was still chortling to himself as he said; 'That was Potter, huh? And your cousin – Sirius, did you say? Someone ought to give them a medal! I saw the expression on Bellatrix's face – it was priceless!' He grinned at her. 'Sorry, Andromeda, but your lovely sister is part of a gang that's always giving poor Ted a hard time, so I feel justified in having a good old laugh at her expense. No offence meant, trust me.'

'None taken,' Andromeda said politely, understanding suddenly why Fabian had found so much to laugh about in Bella's misfortune. She felt bad for feeling affronted at his defence of his friend, so she added; 'And you should tell, er … tell Ted that I would like to apologise on Bella's behalf if she's ever been cruel to him. She can be rather thoughtless at times.'

Fabian looked pleasantly surprised.

'That's nice of you – I'm sure Ted will appreciate it.'

Andromeda offered him a winning smile. 'I might be a Black, Fabian, but I'm not entirely unreasonable. Ted seems like a nice enough fellow, and I would hate to think that Bella had said anything that he might take to heart. Bella is rather _forceful_ in her opinions.'

Fabian was visibly taken aback.

'I'll be sure to relay all that to him,' Fabian said, scooping up his books and handing Andromeda her essay back. 'Thanks for all your help, Andromeda – it's been … it's been good to chat. If you ever tire of that Slytherin lot, Ted and I would be glad to keep you company in the Ravenclaw common room.'

'Really?'

'Well, mostly because you could help us with Charms,' Fabian grinned. Andromeda giggled and blushed. 'But sure, we're always around if you want someone to chat to.'

'That's very kind of you, Fabian,' Andromeda said shyly.

'Ah, we Ravenclaws should stick together, you know. I'll see you in class, ok?'

'All right, see you.'

Fabian waved as he went to look for the book she had recommended. Andromeda turned her attentions to the window, but she wasn't taking much notice of the scenery.

She was tempted to take Fabian up on his offer. Mostly the only people she hung out with were her sisters and their Slytherin friends – proper company for a Black, undoubtedly, but not the sort that Andromeda particularly enjoyed. It would be so nice to have friends inside her own house, like Sirius. She knew that her young cousin was ecstatically happy with the friends he had made in Gryffindor, and more than once since Sirius had arrived at the school Andromeda had thought that perhaps she ought to have done the same, back when she had first been sorted into Ravenclaw. It was too late now to make friends with the girls in her dormitory – they had formed their own little cliques and there was no longer any way of surreptitiously infiltrating them.

There was only the matter of Ted Tonks being a mudblood. In fact, if he had been a pureblood she would have already made friends with the two boys; of this she was perfectly certain. Fabian was always courteous towards her, and he and Ted seemed to get along very well. But … Andromeda knew it was no use. Tonks was a mudblood, and if she so much as spoke to him she would bring shame to her family. It was quite possible that she could be punished just for telling Fabian that she was sorry for her sister's actions. She sighed as the autumn sunlight passed behind a cloud, instantly making her cold.

-

It was Friday, and Flitwick was handing back their essays.

'This is good work, Mr Tonks!' the little professor said brightly, as he handed back Ted's essay, which had a large 'E' for 'Exceeds Expectations' written across the top in red. He grinned broadly.

'Thanks, sir – hey Fabian!'

He proudly showed Fabian his essay and Fabian grinned back.

'That's brilliant, mate! I guess Andromeda's book really helped us out, huh? I must make sure to thank her.'

'Yeah, me too,' Ted beamed. He'd never done any work in Charms that was worth an 'E'. He felt like celebrating somehow.

'Want to go down to the kitchens and nick a bit of food?' he asked Fabian as they left the classroom.

Fabian shook his head apologetically. 'Can't, mate. Sorry. Quidditch practise. The game's tomorrow, you know.'

'Oh, yeah. Well, I guess I'll be in the common room when you're done.' The boys parted ways at the Great Hall; Fabian hurrying out of the castle to the quidditch pitch, and Ted heading for the library dejectedly, feeling that a visit to the kitchens wouldn't be the same without Fabian. He chose a desk near the window in the Astronomy section and pulled a book off the shelves at random to flick through. He'd always liked Astronomy.

After a while he got tired of his book and wandered off through the shelves to find another. He was feeling a little depressed – it was not exactly his idea of a particularly fun Friday afternoon, especially seeing as how it had begun so promisingly. He didn't see what else he could do, though, with Fabian out on the quidditch pitch. He sighed. At least there was quidditch tomorrow to look forward to.

He went back to the table he had been sitting at before, hefting a large book on Transfiguration theory that he hoped would be helpful for their latest assignment from McGonagall, only to find his seat occupied by none other than Andromeda Black, who was absorbed in a thick treatise on the proper use of Veritaseum for Potions. Ted recognised it because he had completed the Potions assignment just the day before.

Remembering that he owed his good grade in Charms to her, he cleared his throat. She looked up, startled.

'Er … hey,' Ted said. 'You won't find that very helpful,' he said, gesturing to her reading material. 'There's a better one – what you've got there is the abridged version.'

Andromeda glanced at the book with a frown on her dainty features.

'Oh,' was all she said. Ted sighed. Apparently she was no less prejudiced than the rest, no matter what Fabian had said. She was just less vocal about it – Ted wondered if this was really any better. At least with the others he knew where he stood.

And it was a shame, because he thought that she would probably be quite pretty if she smiled.

'Yeah,' said Ted, as the atmosphere between them got steadily more awkward. 'Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for recommending that Charms book to Fabian, it really helped me out.'

'You're welcome,' she said shortly. She had a quiet voice which was pleasant to listen to, and Ted found himself wondering what he could say to get her talking.

'Well, anyway, if there's anything I can ever do for you, please don't hesitate to ask,' he offered with a broad smile. 'I owe you big time for that 'E' – I've never been any good at Charms, and that grade might just save my OWL hopes.'

Andromeda smiled briefly and went back to her reading. Ted recognised the not-so-subtle hint that it was time to leave.

'All right. Er … hey, it's time for dinner, are you going?'

'I'm not hungry, thank you,' Andromeda said.

Ted sighed. 'No. Ok, I'll see you around, then.'

He left the library, glancing back at her as he went out the door. He wondered if it had been his imagination, or had she quickly diverted her eyes just a fraction of a second after he had turned his head?

-

'Seriously, though, what can you do?' Fabian speculated, gesturing with his fork as he and Ted discussed Andromeda's cold attitude. 'That's the way she was brought up, isn't it?'

Ted shrugged. 'I guess. I wish she'd talk to me, though. I … I could really use the help with Charms,' he added quickly, because Fabian was giving him a funny look.

'Right …' his friend said slowly, frowning. 'Look, mate, you're best to just stay away from her if she doesn't want you around. Those quiet ones can be frightening when provoked, you know. And she's so good in Charms, you're unlikely to come out better off.'

'Yeah, you're probably right,' Ted agreed with a sigh, staring gloomily at his plate. He pushed his food around with his fork, not feeling particularly hungry at all.

''Course I'm right,' Fabian said decidedly. 'I'm always right, you know that.'

Ted didn't reply. He felt that the afternoon had too quickly gone from brilliant to complete rubbish, without stopping for breath in-between. It felt strange to think that just three hours ago he had felt like celebrating – now he just felt like going to bed. His restless thoughts kept coming back to Andromeda Black, and that in itself was making his stomach uneasy.

He'd had to go and speak to her. He'd had to go and open his big trap. It had been a stupid thing to do, really – what if her sister had been with her? He could have gotten them both in trouble. He could have already gotten himself in trouble – what if Andromeda decided to tell her friends that he'd been bothering her? _Ug. You're an idiot, Tonks; a prize idiot._

'C'mon Ted, don't act like a flobberworm. Look, someone's sent you a letter.'

This got Ted to look up – sure enough a small, sleek black owl was staring at him through bright blue eyes. He frowned.

'A letter? But who would send me a letter with an owl like this? My parents only use the school owls that I send.'

'Maybe you've got a secret admirer,' Fabian joked, taking another mouthful of his dessert. 'Take it, for Merlin's sake. The suspense is killing me.'

Shrugging, Ted removed took the envelope that the owl offered him. It ruffled its feathers importantly and took off through the open windows back to the Owlery. Ted turned the envelope over, noting that his name was written on the back – _Theodore Tonks _(who on earth, apart from his mother, ever called him _Theodore_?) – in neat, loopy handwriting. Frowning more deeply still, Ted slit it opened and removed a short note in the same precise style as had been on the outside of the envelope.

'It's from Andromeda Black,' he said, unable to keep the giddy happiness and relief out of his voice.

Andromeda's note was brief.

_Theodore (Ted) Tonks,_

_I feel that I may have been unnecessarily rude to you this afternoon in the library. Please accept my apologies. I am glad to know that my help was of some benefit to you in completing your Charms essay. I did not mean to be rude to you and hope that you will not think that I was being so out of spite. In future I will make an attempt to be more courteous._

_Andromeda Black._

Ted laughed and handed the note to Fabian, who read it carefully, a bemused expression on his face.

'That girl is difficult to read,' he noted. 'But I could never believe that she could be purposefully rude to anyone.'

Ted nodded. 'I agree with you,' he said. 'She's too polite for her own good. I wonder if she'll be at quidditch tomorrow?'

Fabian shrugged and handed back the note. 'She normally goes with her sisters. Why do you care, anyway? You got what you wanted – she didn't mean to be rude. That doesn't mean that she's going to be your study pal from now on, Ted – I'm sorry to bring it up, but you're still muggle-born, if you hadn't noticed.'

'I know, I know,' Ted muttered. 'I remember, all right? She's pureblood, I'm a mudblood, I get it.'

Fabian stared at him in a calculating way.

'She's not good enough for you, mate,' he said finally. 'Any girl who can't look past your bloodline and see you for what you are is not worth it. Trust me on this.'

Ted smiled at his friend.

'You're a good mate, Fabian,' he said.

'Yeah, and don't you forget it.' Fabian grinned suddenly. 'Come on, let's go up to the dorm. I stashed a few butterbeers up there from the last Hogsmeade weekend – we can drink to a Ravenclaw victory over Gryffindor tomorrow!'

-

Andromeda usually awoke a long time before the other girls in her dormitory, especially on weekends. She'd always been an early riser. Back home the early morning was the only quiet time, before her sisters arose and getting one's voice heard became a challenge.

Andromeda loved her sisters Bellatrix and Narcissa, but they could be loud at times. Bella was never one to let her opinion go unheard – as the oldest of the three girls she was like their ringleader, and she made sure that everyone understood exactly why she was always right. Narcissa was the youngest, the baby of the family with her beautiful blonde hair and icy blue eyes – even though she was only twelve, she knew that she could get her family to do anything she wanted. Bella and their mother absolutely doted on little Cissy.

Andromeda preferred to be quiet and obedient. She liked the mornings best because they were the quiet times, the times when she could sit and just be herself without having to deal with the dominant personalities of her two sisters.

There was a little chair next to the window in the 5th year girls' dorm. Here Andromeda sat, staring out towards the quidditch pitch, which was clearly visible from this part of the castle. It would be a good game today, of that she had no doubt. She quite liked going to quidditch games – unless it was between Ravenclaw and Slytherin, in which case she usually made some excuse and stayed in the common room. She just couldn't bring herself to support either house on those occasions, so she settled for supporting no one at all.

Today the game was against Gryffindor, so there would be no such trouble. In fact, Bellatrix and the rest would no doubt be supporting Ravenclaw as well. They hated Gryffindors with an unrivalled passion.

As she sat there thinking about her sisters, the dawn light slowly crept over the Forbidden Forest towards the castle. The girls in their beds began to stir a little, although it would still be hours before they woke. Andromeda leaned against the window, watching a lone owl as it soared towards Ravenclaw tower.

It landed, most unexpectedly, on the windowsill just outside. Pleasantly surprised, Andromeda pulled open the window to let it hop inside.

'Who are you here for?' she murmured, checking the parcel attached to its leg. It hooted softly as she relieved it of its burden.

The name on the package was her own. She frowned and turned back to the owl, but it had already fluttered out of the window and was heading back to the Owlery for a good sleep.

The plain brown wrapping was addressed in an untidy hand with just her name. Curious, she undid the simple twine and pulled away the brown paper to reveal …

A book.

More specifically, _The Life and Social Habits of British Muggles_.

She frowned more deeply still, wondering if this was someone's idea of a joke. She opened the front cover and a note fell out.

It read;

_Andromeda (can I call you Andy?) Black_

_The first thing you should learn about muggles is this – we're damn persistent._

_At your service,_

_Ted (Theodore) Tonks._

She giggled and blushed before quickly calling herself into check. What was she thinking?

She slammed the book shut and hid it at the bottom of her trunk, under her dress robes. God forbid her sisters should ever find it.

She frowned.

On second consideration, she retrieved the note from inside the front cover and slipped it into the pocket of her nightgown, where it would be close at hand should she want to study it again.

She had the strange feeling that she was rebelling, made even stranger by the fact that she was enjoying herself immensely.


	3. Chapter the second

**One Black Sheep**

_Update-tastic!_

_Disclaimer: All of these wonderful characters and the fantastic settings and the dramatic stories of their lives are the creation of JK Rowling, without whom the world is a much less magical place._

_In this chapter I've dropped in my two lovely Ravenclaws, Hestia and Caradoc. Check them out in 'Loved and Lost' if you haven't already. Also, I have the obligatory cameo from our favourite marauding duo, James and Sirius._

_Back to Andy/Ted!love. Hooray! _

**Chapter the second: In which Andromeda talks to her cousin about James Potter, and Ted explains the benefits of Muggle Studies.**

The quidditch match was in full swing. Ravenclaw weren't doing particularly well – Gryffindor's new Chaser, young James Potter, seemed to be quite proficient at the art of misdirection. Fabian Prewett was doing his best at being Keeper, but his best simply wasn't good enough.

Andromeda stood in the stands with her sisters and their Slytherin friends, who were all appropriately dressed in Ravenclaw colours for the occasion. They cheered Ravenclaw goals and Bellatrix in particular made a point of booing very loudly whenever young Potter got in possession of the quaffle. Ravenclaw was in very real danger of losing – if their Seeker didn't catch the snitch soon, Gryffindor would be more than 150 points ahead and there would be no hope for victory.

Andromeda was not paying much attention to the game, however. She kept pulling Ted's note out of her pocket and reading it over. She wondered what he meant by '_persistent_' – was he implying that he was interested in her in a romantic way? Well, that was just stupid; they'd barely spoken twice in five years and besides, she'd always made her attitudes towards muggle-borns completely clear. But what else could it mean? She pulled the note out of her pocket again and frowned at it. '… _we're damn persistent._'

'What's that you keep looking at?' Narcissa asked, trying to catch a look at the note in Andromeda's hands. Andromeda quickly stuffed it back into her pocket.

'Nothing,' she said defensively, as James Potter scored yet another goal. Bellatrix booed loudly on Andromeda's other side. One more goal and even the capture of the snitch wouldn't save Ravenclaw's game.

'I have ten galleons on this game!' Bellatrix whined pitifully. Next to her Rodolphus Lestrange, a tall, dark-haired Slytherin seventh year, patted Bella's shoulder in a comforting way.

'You could never have foreseen that Potter character would turn out to be any good,' he said soothingly as Bella seethed.

'If I have to pay that little upstart ten galleons, I swear I'll …' she made a violent gesture, her dark eyes firmly focussed on the spot far above the pitch where James Potter was soaring by, in hot pursuit of the quaffle again. Gryffindors cheered him on.

Narcissa chuckled at Bella's misfortune. 'If I know Sirius, he'll never let you forget it,' she remarked. Andromeda was horrified.

'You bet against Sirius? He's only twelve, Bella!'

Bella's lip curled. 'He knew what he was doing. I suspect, in fact, that he knew that this would be the outcome – that Potter's a friend of his. I'll get him back, I promise you that!'

'I would rather that you didn't,' Andromeda murmured, but no one heard her. Goldstein, the Ravenclaw beater, caused Potter to drop the quaffle into the hands of the Ravenclaw chasers, and Andromeda's words were drowned out by her sisters' cheers.

'Thank goodness,' Narcissa breathed, as Ravenclaw scored another goal, much to the approval of its supporters. 'That Prewett boy couldn't catch a grindylow in a bucket!'

Andromeda frowned. 'Fabian's a fine Keeper,' she said, feeling that she should stick up for the members of her own house. Narcissa rolled her eyes but didn't reply.

The commentary, by one Benjy Fenwick – a Hufflepuff third-year – floated over the heads of the crowd.

'And Potter's back in possession – this is a brilliant first game for the second-year, and we all look forward to seeing much more of him … as for Ravenclaw's new recruit, Seeker Hestia Jones, we're yet to see much from – aha! That was a nice save from the Ravenclaw Keeper Prewett, and captain Davies is now headed for goal …'

Narcissa yawned and turned to Andromeda. The youngest of the Black sisters had never much cared for sports.

'So … what was that note again?'

'I told you, it was nothing,' Andromeda said testily. Narcissa had always been an incurable busybody. 'It was from a boy in my class, thanking me for some help I gave him in Charms.'

That was … _mostly_ true.

'Oh,' Narcissa grinned. 'Which boy? Is he cute? Was it Prewett?'

'I should hope not,' Bella spoke up, her eyes still on the action out on the pitch. 'He hangs out with that filthy mudblood boy, so he's a traitor to our kind – Andy's got better sense than that, Cissy.'

'Well then, who –'

'It's none of your business, Narcissa,' Andromeda said loftily, hoping against hope that she sounded off-hand enough to deter her sister's questioning. 'It concerns our studies, and not anything you might have been implying.'

Narcissa pouted. 'You're no fun, Andy,' she sighed, turning back to the match. Andromeda breathed a silent sigh of relief, tuning in once more to Fenwick's commentary.

'The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw beaters have been having an all-out war this match! Potter is back in possession again – mark my words, you're looking at the future Gryffindor captain right there, as long as he doesn't get kicked off the team for his off-pitch exploits! You guys know what I'm talking about, especially you Slytherins …' Bellatrix and the others booed loudly, and Fenwick laughed. 'Ah, so you _do_ know what I'm talking about. You've got to admit that he's a fantastic flyer, though … aha! They've spotted the snitch!'

The Ravenclaw seeker, second-year Hestia Jones, had gone into a fantastic dive … but her Gryffindor counterpart, by a sheer stroke of luck, was a lot closer to the tiny flash of gold than she was.

'Jones is straining every muscle to get that snitch! Merlin's beard, that girl can fly! But will she be good enough … Doherty is leaning in, but Jones is right beside her … this one's going to come down to the wire …'

The stands were screaming. The players had stopped passing the quaffle and were watching the two seekers as they chased the snitch … the entire game rested on this moment …

'And … it's Doherty for Gryffindor! Gryffindor have the snitch! Gryffindor wins the first game in the series, and what a close match it was!'

-

'That Potter kid is just … amazing,' Fabian said later in the common room, staring straight ahead as though he still couldn't believe what had just happened.

'Yeah, but we still could've beaten the git if I'd caught the snitch,' Hestia Jones said gloomily, her black hair falling across her face. Her friend, a blond second-year boy named Caradoc Dearborn, put his arm around her shoulders.

'That was just bad luck, Hess. I thought you flew very well.'

'Yeah, he's right,' Ted said bracingly, from his seat next to Fabian. The rest of the quidditch team was gathered around near the fire, staring glumly at their shoes. 'You all flew brilliantly, and I bet when you go up against Slytherin after the holidays you're going to really show what you're made of!'

The captain, Davies, nodded determinedly, offering Ted a grin. 'Yeah, he's right! No more moping, lads … and ladies,' he added, nodding at Hestia and the beater, Schofield. 'We've got Slytherin to beat! The season's not over yet, and the next time we have to go up against the Gryffindors and Potter the wonder-boy, we'll show them what Ravenclaws can do!'

The team cheered, and went back to their own conversations. Fabian turned to Ted.

'Thanks for cheering us up, mate.'

'Don't mention it,' Ted grinned. 'It was a fantastic match, whether we won or not.'

'Good to know someone thought so,' Fabian nodded. 'Who were you sitting with?'

'Oh, that Frank Longbottom chap – you know, the Hufflepuff prefect? He's all right – for a sixth year, and for a Hufflepuff.'

'Yeah, he's all right. So you weren't sitting with Andromeda Black, then?'

Ted rolled his eyes. 'She was with her sisters, like you said. I didn't fancy getting hit with the hexes of five assorted Slytherins, all at once.'

'It might bring you to your senses,' Fabian muttered, raising an eyebrow. 'You're not still hung up on that girl, are you?'

'What? I don't know what you're talking about.'

'You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about,' Fabian accused. But Ted just shrugged.

'I don't reckon that I do. I'm going to go get started on that Transfiguration work for Monday, all right?'

Fabian narrowed his eyes shrewdly, but clearly decided not to press the issue. 'Ok Ted. We'll chat later.'

'Whatever,' Ted said in reply, before leaving the common room with a smile and a wave.

-

By Monday, Andromeda had come to a conclusion about what she was going to do about Ted Tonks.

She was going to avoid him, and hope that he would forget all about her.

All and all, she was rather pleased with this plan. She pushed Ted Tonks and his silly muggle book to the back of her mind, where she wouldn't have to think about them. It just wouldn't do for her to get mixed up with a muggle-born. Imagine what her sisters would say!

Instead, she decided to go and talk to Sirius. She felt sorry for Sirius because Bella was consistently picking on him – and she thought that he might appreciate her congratulations for his team's win over the weekend.

She found Sirius sitting in the corridor outside McGonagall's office. Andromeda could hear raised voices from the room within.

'Hey Andy. James is just getting told off,' he grinned and cocked his head towards the door. 'I'm waiting for my turn.'

Andromeda smiled a long-suffering smile. 'What did you do this time?' she asked amusedly. Sirius had always been a bit of a prankster. She remembered when he had been six and she had been nine, and he had left a toad in her bed. She'd screamed bloody murder. Since arriving at Hogwarts his pranks had only become more complex, and in some cases dangerous.

'Ah, well, _dear_ Bella wouldn't pay up the money she owed me after our little wager on the quidditch match, so she and her slimy Slytherin pals received something slimy for lunch today in place of their usual sandwiches. Didn't you see?'

'I was studying in the library,' Andromeda giggled. 'I'm sorry I missed it.'

'Yeah, _you_ would've appreciated it,' Sirius said, his endearing grin stretching his features. 'I still don't have my ten galleons, though. Your lovely sister seems to think that the deal was null and void since because James is my mate and, according to her, I had inside information. I say; tough biscuit. You can tell her that she either pays up, or finds herself the subject of experimental pranking.'

Andromeda laughed again. 'I'll be sure to mention it,' she said. Bella and Sirius had never gotten along. They were too alike, the pair of them – both incurably headstrong, and both absolutely certain of their opinion. 'But don't you think you're in enough trouble already?'

'Nah, it's all right. It'll only be two or three detentions at the very most. It's a small price to pay for justice.' He shrugged. 'Let's change the subject, shall we?'

Andromeda nodded. 'Ok. I actually came and found you so that I could, on behalf of Ravenclaw house, congratulate you Gryffindors on the victory this past weekend.'

Sirius laughed his usual short, sharp laugh. 'Thanks, Andy, that's awful nice of you. Can't see old Bella stopping by when James smashes Slytherin for all they're worth. He's pretty good, isn't he?'

'He's very good,' Andromeda agreed. 'He's got poor Fabian Prewett shaking in his boots. You and he are still good friends?'

'Yeah, of course!' Sirius laughed again. 'Who else am I going to be friends with in my year? Snape? Narcissa? I don't think so, sorry Andy. I'll tell him what you said about Prewett. He'll be rapt.'

Andromeda smiled at her cousin, thinking that he was a lot braver than she was. She would never go against her family's wishes and be friends with someone like … like Fabian, for instance, or Ted …

Suddenly, she sighed. Sirius frowned.

'You all right, Andy? You look like you've got something on your mind.'

'It's nothing,' she said quickly. Then she sighed again. 'Actually, Sirius, I've just been feeling –'

But at that moment the door to McGonagall's office opened and young James Potter came out, grinning from ear to ear.

'Your turn, mate,' he said. 'Go and get it over and done with – I'll wait for you here.'

'Yeah, thanks. Gotta go, Andy,' he apologised. 'Come find me later if you want to chat.' And with a grin he headed into the office.

'Ah, Mr Black …' Andromeda heard the strict voice of Professor McGonagall say as the door swung shut.

'He'll be all right,' James Potter said knowledgably to Andromeda. 'McGonagall likes him really, because he's so good at Transfiguration.'

Andromeda smiled. 'You were fantastic at quidditch on Saturday,' she said generously. James grinned more broadly still.

'Thanks. Sirius said you were the nicest out of all his cousins.'

'Did he?' Andromeda laughed. 'I've got to go. You boys … well, I would tell you to stay out of trouble, but I know that's not going to happen.'

'He also said you were the smartest,' James smirked. Andromeda laughed again and waved as she headed back to her common room.

-

When she got there, she almost turned around and went the other way. Ted was sitting right by the staircase to the girls' dormitories, where she would have to walk straight past him.

She paused at the entrance to the common room. _For Merlin's sake!_ she found herself thinking. _This is so ridiculous! Just walk straight past him, show him that you are every inch a Black, no matter what he thinks! Show him exactly how a Black behaves around a mudblood like him!_

She took a deep breath and strode towards the staircase, ready to walk past, no matter how he called out to her, no matter what he said to make her stop and take notice …

He looked up once, but didn't say anything. She stopped with her foot on the first stair. He hadn't even tried to talk to her.

_Damn it!_

She turned and walked back to where he was sitting. She'd show him! How dare he ignore her?

He looked up from his book with a mild smile.

'Forget something, Andy?'

'My _name,_' she said, 'is Andromeda. And I forgot … to tell you … that I don't want that book you sent.'

He shrugged, but kept smiling. It was unnerving – Andromeda knew that if she had been Bellatrix he would have stopped smiling a long time ago. Possibly permanently.

'Just hang onto it,' he suggested calmly. 'You never know when it could come in handy.'

'In handy? I don't want it, I'm telling you – what am _I_ supposed to do with a book like that?'

He smirked. 'Read it, perhaps?'

She stared at him. Apparently he found her shocked expression comical, because he laughed.

'Come on, Andromeda,' he said. 'It was only a joke. If you don't want the book, hand it back to Fabian.'

'Fabian?'

'Yeah, it's his,' Ted laughed again. 'You didn't think it was mine, did you? What do I need to take muggle studies for? If anyone doesn't need that book, it's me, and if there's one person in the world who might be able to find something interesting in it, it's you.'

She narrowed her eyes. 'What makes you think that I'm even _remotely_ interested in Muggle Studies?'

Ted shrugged, still smiling. 'I'm not sure. Maybe … maybe I just hoped that you could be interested.'

'Well, you were wrong,' she informed him. 'I'm sorry if you took my apology the wrong way the other day – but that's all it was, an apology. It wasn't an invitation to friendship, or –'

Ted held up his hand to stop her.

'I know,' he said, his blue eyes suddenly serious. 'I know that you don't think you meant anything by it. But it meant something, all the same. And hey, if nothing else, that book got you to talk to me again, didn't it?'

He grinned. Andromeda was speechless for a moment.

'But why?' she said finally. 'Why do you want to talk to _me_? After all the horrible things my sisters say about you, after the way I treated you on Friday – why on earth would you ever want to talk to me?'

He shrugged again. 'I don't know. One of life's little mysteries, I would say. Why would _you_ want to talk to _me_ in the first place? Why would you ever even bother writing me that note? You could have just ignored me. Who am I to you? I'm just a mudblood, right?'

She gasped.

'What?' he demanded. 'I assume I'm allowed to use the word. Your sister uses it often enough. It's not as though you're not used to hearing it.'

'I suppose it's just … I didn't expect …'

'What? You don't think I hear it every single day?'

She frowned at him. There was some ulterior motive here, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

'Why did you _really_ send me that book?' she asked shrewdly. He smiled.

'So that you could read it, of course. So that you might see where I'm coming from a little bit. I thought that perhaps if you knew a little more about muggles, we could stop worrying about who my parents are and maybe … be friends.' His expression could only be called hopeful. She frowned more deeply still.

'And what's so special about _me_ that you want to be friends all of a sudden?' she wanted to know.

'Call it your proficiency in Charms,' Ted said mischievously. Andromeda's eyebrows shot towards the ceiling. He laughed.

'I'm only kidding,' he assured her. 'Listen, you talk to Fabian, right? He says you're a nice enough girl and I guess I thought, hey, I wouldn't mind having a friend who could actually help me out in Charms, considering as I'm pretty much failing. Besides, you're a Ravenclaw, which means we should stick together; and I thought I might be able to help you out as much as you would be able to help me.'

'What, by teaching me about muggles?' Andromeda asked.

Ted shrugged. 'It could be useful. You never know.'

'I seriously doubt that,' she said harshly, more harshly perhaps than she had intended – but she'd had enough. He couldn't treat her like this. She was not some game to be played. She was not going to stand here and hear the traditions of her family mocked by this … this … this _mudblood. _Yes, he'd said it himself. That was all he was to her. She was a Black, pure and noble, and he was … he was …

Still smirking at her like he knew something she didn't. She didn't like his look at all. She turned on her heel and swept up to her deserted dormitory, leaving him in the common room. She threw herself onto her bed and yanked the royal blue curtains shut. For a few moments, she sat fuming on her bed, her hands balled into fist and her teeth clenched. Slowly, she calmed herself down.

It was just so _infuriating!_ How dare he treat her like that? Didn't he understand, didn't he _know_ that he couldn't … that they couldn't …

_She_ couldn't. She couldn't be seen talking to a mudblood. She couldn't show the least interest in Muggle Studies. She couldn't care, couldn't show that kind of emotion.

_He_ didn't have such rules, such limitations. _He_ could do whatever he damn well pleased. That was the difference between him and her. She couldn't be friends with him, even if she wanted to. Which she didn't. Of course not. But even if she had, she couldn't. It wasn't right, it wasn't proper, it wasn't the done thing.

He was a mudblood. She desperately tried to think like Bellatrix. Bellatrix was ruthless in regards to people like Ted Tonks. Filthy, dirty mudboods. Not worthy even to look upon her, let alone speak to her. Creatures of grime and muck. The words of Andromeda's mother floated through her mind … '_You are more than them, so much more … you are perfect, pure … the power you possess is carefully passed on from generation like an heirloom, it is precious, sacred … what do they know of this? Nothing! What right do they have to understand our ancient ways, our hallowed traditions? None! They are nothing to you, my child … you are so much more than them …'_

Andromeda hugged her knees. She didn't know why, but she was crying. Surely it shouldn't be this difficult to know right from wrong! Parents were supposed to _know_, and they were supposed to be right. Andromeda had always been obedient to her mother and father's wishes. She'd never questioned what they told her. That was the way the world worked. But now, she couldn't understand why she had to push away someone who'd been nothing but kind to her, someone who was willing to go through any amount of effort to be her friend.

She sniffed. She could only imagine what Bellatrix would say if she could see her sister now. '_Ha, you silly girl, you have better sense than this! Has Ravenclaw made you soft? Are you actually considering speaking to that boy again – he is a mudblood, for Merlin's sake! Our kind does not speak to creatures like that, we do not acknowledge them, we do not even think of them! They are worthless, do you hear me! Would you betray your own family, your own flesh and blood for this boy? Would you go against your nature? You are more than this, Andromeda Black!'_

Yes, that would be Bellatrix all right. Bellatrix had it easy. She never questioned anything – she knew what was right. She had always known it. She'd never been asked to consider a muggle-born boy for who he was, she'd never been subjected to the piercing eyes of Theodore Tonks, who always looked like he knew something that you did not …

'_What could he have to offer you? You are a Black! He is dirt – less than dirt! What could he possibly know that would enrich your life in any way? What could his filthy muggle heritage teach you? Nothing, that's what! Nothing, because that's all he is! Nothing!'_

Pulling herself together, Andromeda went to her trunk and pulled out the Muggle Studies book from underneath her dress robes. She stared at the cover for a moment. She would go and return it to Fabian. Yes. And then she would never think of it again.

Yes.

She didn't move. She stared at the book in her hands. It didn't offer any advice.

It belonged to Fabian. If he wanted to be a blood-traitor, then that was his business. Andromeda Black had no desire to turn her back on her family.

Fabian Prewett was another one of those people who had an easy life. He knew right from wrong. He believed in people, no matter where they came from. He treated everyone with the same respect. So did Ted Tonks. To them, everyone was the same. Innocent until proven guilty. Free to be either.

Her hand paused on the cover of the book.

Andromeda had always loved to learn. That was why she'd been sorted into Ravenclaw in the first place, and not Slytherin. But the thing she most wanted to know right now was the one thing she felt sure she would never find in any book.

Who was right? And how did you decide?

She knew about purebloods. She understood how they thought. But as for muggles … she had no idea.

Her Ravenclaw logic kicked in. In order to settle a debate properly, one should hear both sides of the argument, yes?

Besides, a little reading couldn't hurt.

_What do you think? How about a review?_


	4. Chapter the third

**One Black Sheep**

_Aha! Updates again!_

_Disclaimer: As usual, I want to say that this work is a spin-off of the imagination of JK Rowling and in no way do I own any part of the Harry Potter universe._

_Those interested in this story might like 'Loved and Lost'. Or, if you're a Marauders fan, post your reviews for 'Up to no Good'! (plugs own stories shamelessly)_

_Many thanks to all those who reviewed! Keep those reviews coming, along with your thoughts on the characters. I've made Andromeda a little shyer than she is usually portrayed, but I'm not sure what you guys think of that. Most people tend to put her in Slytherin, but since I opted for the Ravenclaw path, that's been dictating her character to me. I love Ravenclaws … er … ahem. Of course, by no means is she weak. Shy people show their strength in different ways – as I was once very shy myself, I hope that I can do her justice._

**Chapter the third: In which Andromeda chooses blood over bloodshed.**

It was late at night but Andromeda was still awake, staring at the dark blue canopy over her head. The Muggle Studies book was safely hidden in her trunk once again.

She'd read a page. And then another. Then she'd felt physically sick and had had to hide the book.

It wasn't that the book contained anything particularly horrible or anything – in fact, it had been just the sort of thing she would have expected, if she had ever thought to expect anything. It was just that the sheer seriousness of the rebellion caused her stomach to churn violently. Andromeda felt that she was not cut out for this sort of thing.

The book would have to go back. If Ted Tonks ever tried to speak to her again, she would have to ignore him. If Bella or Cissy ever found out that she had been talking to him, there would be no end to their teasing. At least, Cissy would tease – Bella would probably yell at her. No, _scream_ at her. Bella would also tell their mother.

Andromeda shivered and rolled over. Druella Black would not take kindly to the idea that her middle daughter was fraternising with mudboods. It was bad enough that her nephew had been sorted into Gryffindor – no one was pleased with the company he kept over there – but mudbloods! That was a shame unheard of in the Black family. People had been disowned for much less.

It was understood that while blood ran deeper than any other tie, the family did not make much allowance for rebels. There was no room on the Black family tree for insubordination. A Black daughter was meant to grow up, make a respectable pureblood marriage, and produce heirs to the line. That was what you did … or else.

Andromeda, for her part, didn't see that she had much of a choice of the matter. In the very least, as long as she was a good girl and did as she was told, she was guaranteed a certain level of security and comfort for the rest of her life. She probably wouldn't marry for love, and an arranged marriage was not entirely out of the question although the practice tended to be a last resort these days, rather than an obligation starting at infancy. She had always understood this to be the case, and it didn't bother her as much as it might have bothered someone outside the family. She was pretty sure that she would never actually fall in love. Love was something that happened to other people, in storybooks or other such silly places. It did not happen to Blacks.

She began to doze off, certain that she would not be at ease again until she had gotten rid of that damn book.

-

'Wait a second … _what?_'

Andromeda rolled her eyes. Apparently Tonks (as she had decided to call him by his last name only, if she had to refer to him at all) had not informed Fabian that he intended to lend his friend's book to her.

'No doubt he thought it would be _funny_,' she said delicately, pushing the book across the table towards him by the tips of her fingers, avoiding touching it as much as possible. 'But I'm sure you need it for your studies, so I'm giving it back.'

Fabian took the book and flipped though the first few pages. He was frowning. 'Blimey, I didn't know I even still had this. I don't use it, you know. Ted's the only textbook I need when it comes to Muggle Studies. I wonder what he thought _you_ would want with it?'

'Don't we all,' Andromeda said dryly. Fabian offered her a quick smile.

'Aw, don't be mad at him. I'm sure he was just joking around. He's a bit of a kidder, is Ted. Besides, I bet you could get a real education out of this book.'

'Yeah, all right,' she said sceptically. 'I've got Ancient Runes, so I guess I'll be going now.'

Fabian shook his head bemusedly. 'All right, Andromeda. Thanks for the book. If you ever want to borrow it again, you know where to find me.' He grinned as she rolled her eyes again.

'Thank you, but I'm sure that won't be the case,' she said haughtily. She turned and left the library, muttering to herself about silly boys and their silly jokes.

-

'You girlfriend was just here,' Fabian commented wryly as Ted took the empty seat next to him. Ted raised his eyebrows.

'Andromeda? What did she want?'

Fabian stared at him for a moment.

'Do you even realise what you just said?'

Ted shrugged. 'That's who you meant, right? What did she want?'

Fabian shook his head disbelievingly. 'Sometimes I don't understand you, mate. She came by to give me my Muggle Studies book back – you know, the one you sent to her?'

'She did?' Ted sighed. 'Oh well. Guess she isn't going to read it after all.'

Fabian stared at him some more. Ted pretended not to notice – he took out some parchment and a quill and began to take notes from a textbook that Fabian had been browsing earlier. It had been announced earlier that day that their afternoon Care of Magical Creatures class had been cancelled because some second-years had stolen the bowtruckles they had been meant to work with and let them loose in the Slytherin common room, and the boys had planned to use the time to catch up on their studies. They always seemed to have catch-up work to do this year – OWLs made for a heavy workload.

'This would be the point where you tell me _why_ you have decided to take it upon yourself to educate Andromeda Black on the finer points of Muggle-Wizard relations,' Fabian finally prompted, growing impatient with Ted's silence.

Ted shrugged indifferently. 'Just thought that there might be more to her, you know,' he smiled at his best friend. 'Thought she might need a little push in the right direction.'

'Uh-huh,' Fabian was unconvinced. 'You're a terrible liar, you know that?'

'Oh, come on Fabian. You weren't using the book, and I thought she could use a little encouragement. There's no harm in trying to make a new friend, is there?'

Fabian rolled his eyes. 'You're your own worst enemy, Ted. If her sister ever found out you were interested in her, she'd kill you – and don't tell me that I'm being dramatic, because you know as well as I do that Bellatrix Black would probably kill for a hell of a lot less.'

Ted looked sceptical of this.

'I think you're blowing the whole thing out of proportion, mate,' he said lightly. 'If she doesn't want my attentions, she only has to say so. And as for her sister … well, I'm not an idiot, so I don't plan to have her find out about my intentions – which, for the record, are nothing if not honourable.'

Fabian sighed. 'It's your funeral,' he muttered, going back to his books. Ted grinned and punched him playfully on the shoulder.

'That's the spirit. Don't spoil my fun – it's my decision if I want to subject myself to a little bit of misery, isn't it?'

Fabian just shook his head.

-

Ancient Runes was mind-numbingly boring as usual. Andromeda was glad when the bell finally rang to signal the final class of the day – Potions. She gathered up her books and headed to the door.

As she headed down the corridor, someone fell into step beside her. Remembering her resolution, she ignored him.

'Don't tell me you're not talking to me, Andy,' he nudged her. 'How am I going to teach you about muggles now, since you gave Fabian his book back?'

She sighed and walked a little faster. He moved to catch up.

'You could at least say 'hullo, Ted'. That would be the polite thing, after all. What happened to courtesy?'

Andromeda rolled her eyes. She'd been doing that a lot lately – her mother would have given her a long speech on ladylike behaviour had she been there to see.

'Hello, Theodore,' she said coldly. 'Would you please leave me alone now?'

'Aw, Andy, don't be like that.'

'My name is _Andromeda_,' she said, with a sharp look in his direction. 'And you have a lot of nerve, talking to me like this. If anyone were to see –'

'I'm sure they'd be jealous of me,' Ted interrupted with a grin. 'But there are other benefits, as well.'

'You're walking a fine line, _Tonks_,' she muttered.

'Heh. You know, you're cute when you're angry.'

She stared at him, quite speechless. She didn't even notice that they had stopped walking.

'You can't just –'

'I know, I'm just kidding,' he laughed at her expression. 'Well, you are kind of cute, don't get me wrong, but I'm not a complete idiot. I'm just trying to get a rise out of you, _Andromeda. _Don't read too much into it.'

She frowned.

'You'll get us both in trouble if you keep this up,' she warned.

He shrugged. 'I can handle it. Can you?'

'I … I'm not …'

'I'll give you time to think about it, shall I?' Ted asked. 'We've got Potions – wouldn't want to be late.' He started off down the corridor towards the dungeons, and Andromeda followed reluctantly.

She ought to have just told him to get lost. Perhaps if she had called him a mudblood, that would have gotten him to leave her alone. But somehow, she couldn't bring herself to say it to his face.

-

There were only three weeks left until the Christmas holidays. A week after Ted cornered Andromeda outside Ancient Runes, the students woke up to find the castle under three inches of snow. Sign-up sheets went around the common rooms for those who were planning to stay over the holidays – Andromeda didn't put her name up. She always went home – staying behind was only for people whose families didn't want them.

She noted that Ted's name was on the list and wondered why.

They had, despite her hesitation, become friends – after a fashion, at least. She was still reasonably cold towards him, but she had found that Ted had a contagious personality, in that his seemingly permanent good mood was difficult to resist. She tried her best to keep their conversations brief, but she found that she quite enjoyed them, despite the churning of her stomach which continuously reminded her of how she was completely disregarding all of her family's rules.

Ted had a quick wit, and an easy grin. He had told her that since he'd always been at a sort of disadvantage when it came to magic, he'd turned to humour to fight his battles for him. The subjects he was particularly good at, Potions and Astronomy and to some extent Herbology, were the ones that didn't require much in the way of wandwork. The exception to this was Transfiguration, which he seemed to have a natural talent for. Of course, he was absolutely hopeless at Charms.

She still worried that Bella or Cissy might find out, so she made a point of avoiding Ted if they might be seen by any Slytherins, or even Gryffindors, because she wasn't keen on the idea of the news travelling back to her cousin, either. She sat with her sisters at mealtimes – no one objected to this, because she'd been doing it for years – and came at the last minute to classes so that she wouldn't be able to sit next to him. Her ability for sneakiness surprised even her.

However, a secret in Hogwarts castle never stayed a secret for very long. It was late one night, and she was leaving the library to head on back to Ravenclaw tower, when James Potter stepped out of the shadows, grinning from ear to ear.

'Hello, James. Causing trouble with my cousin again, are you?' she asked good-naturedly. Her family, she knew, did not much approve of James Potter, even though he was from a well-to-do pureblood family it had been suggested that they were sympathetic to the causes of muggle rights. But she quite liked him, trusting in Sirius's judgement and also in the fact that she had never known her cousin to be so happy as when he and his best friend had just pulled off some sort of prank.

'I might be,' James said. 'Not as much trouble as you and that muggle-born boy are going to cause, though, if Bellatrix ever finds out that you're friends with him.'

Andromeda stopped in her tracks.

'How do you know about that?' she demanded.

'Oh, I'm quite good at getting myself into unexpected places,' James shrugged. 'Do you mind if I tell Sirius?'

Andromeda got the sense that he would probably tell Sirius whether she minded or not.

'Listen, we're just … he's in my house, and I … I just … we're not …'

'Yeah, whatever you say,' James grinned more widely still.

'Look, just be careful who you tell, all right?' she sighed. 'And for the record, we're not really very good friends, he's mainly been bugging me about Charms and –'

'All right, I get it,' James said. 'But you know, it wouldn't be the end of the world if you liked a muggle-born. And Tonks seems like an all right sort of bloke.'

She bit her lip to keep herself from saying anything she'd regret.

'I don't like him,' she told James firmly. 'He's just … some guy. Some _muggle-born _guy. In fact, most of the time I just wish he'd leave me alone.'

James didn't look convinced, but it appeared he'd learned how to deal with Blacks, because he dropped the subject.

'Okay. I've got to go, Andy – I'll see you later, all right?'

'All right, James,' she sighed, watching him disappear down another corridor to her right, which she knew came out somewhere near the Slytherin common room.

A sick, worried feeling manifested itself in her stomach. How much could she rely on Sirius to keep his mouth shut?

-

Apparently at least a little bit, seeing as Ted kept on coming to classes over the next few days, and Bella seemed to be, if anything, in a better mood than usual. Narcissa was still swooning over her latest crush, so no difference there.

Sirius shot Andromeda a few odd looks across the Great Hall at meals, but didn't say anything. She was grateful to him for that.

'You look preoccupied, Andy,' Bella said imperiously at dinner, one week before the holidays. Andromeda had been thinking about something Ted had said about muggles the day before … it had been interesting, and he didn't mention things like that very much anymore …

'What? Oh, it's … it's nothing,' Andromeda said quickly.

'Hm,' Bella muttered, but she didn't seem to be very interested in Andromeda's affairs. Lately Bella had not been interested in much except the headlines of the _Daily Prophet _each morning – news of darkness spreading across the world. She always complained that they never reported the full story, and Andromeda wondered what her beautiful sister knew about such things.

'Andy's got a crush,' Narcissa teased. 'I _knew _that note at the quidditch match wasn't about Charms.'

'Oh, be quiet, Cissy,' Andromeda said, cursing herself for blushing. Narcissa giggled but didn't say anything more.

Rabastan Lestrange, Rodolphus's younger brother, raised an eyebrow at Andromeda, who did her best to send the second-year the famous Black glare. He looked away quickly after that, but there was still a smirk on his fine features.

'Oh, don't be such a spoilsport, Andy,' Narcissa scolded. 'Tell us who he is, go on.'

'I couldn't do that, because I haven't the slightest idea who you're talking about,' Andromeda replied loftily. Narcissa pouted.

'Aw, Andy. That's not fair. Make her tell, Bella!'

Bella looked up at the mention of her name – she had been concentrating her attention on the thick leather book she had propped open against the saltshakers. It was not like Bella to be particularly studious – she didn't have the patience to be a scholar – but lately she was never to be found without her nose in a book, usually a thick and expensive one that Andromeda would recognise from their father's library back home. They all assumed that she was studying hard for her NEWT classes, which she had begun that year.

'Leave Andy alone, Cissy. She'll tell us when she's ready,' she smiled wanly at Andromeda before going back to her book. Andromeda was torn between anger at her older sister for not believing her pledge of innocence, and gratitude towards her for putting a definite stop to Narcissa's prying.

Narcissa pouted for a moment longer, and then sighed heavily.

'Sirius put beetles in my hair this morning in Potions,' she said moodily. She had always been most comfortable talking about her own problems. 'You should have heard me scream, Andy!'

'That boy's a menace,' said Rodolphus Lestrange, who was sitting opposite his brother on Bella's other side. 'Him and that Potter boy – one of the teachers really ought to do something about them.'

'He's also the heir to the Black line, Lestrange, so watch your tongue,' Bella snapped coolly. As much as she disliked Sirius, she was not about to let anyone outside the family put him down. Lestrange was somewhat afraid of her temper – all the Slytherins were. At her rebuke, he held up his hands in a gesture of peace. Even though he was a whole year ahead of her, he still respected her.

'No offence meant, dear Bella,' he smiled. She made a disapproving noise with her tongue as she continued to stare at the text in front of her. He watched her for a moment with a strange look in his eye before turning back to his brother. They were soon deep in conversation about the quidditch match that would take place after the holidays – Slytherin had beaten Hufflepuff two weekends ago, and were training to take on the Gryffindor team and Potter the wonder-boy, as Andromeda had heard him christened in her own house.

Narcissa yawned.

'Sirius and his friend were talking about you, Andy, before he threw those beetles at me,' she said conversationally. 'I didn't hear what they were saying, but you might want to watch your back.'

Andromeda had dropped her fork in shock. She quickly bent down to pick it up, and as she straightened up, she said; 'Er … thank you, Cissy. I'll be sure to look out for them.'

'No matter what he does, I'm not paying him,' Bella declared and Andromeda started again, unaware that she'd been listening. 'He's not getting any of my money, the little cheat.'

'You're a little jumpy, Andy,' Narcissa noted. 'Are you sure you're all right?'

'I'm … I'm fine,' Andromeda said. 'I've got an essay to write, though, for … er … Arithmancy, that's it. Yeah.'

'Never understood why you took Arithmancy, Andy,' Bella said lightly. 'It sounds dead boring.'

'I quite like it,' Andromeda said, avoiding Narcissa's quizzical look as she stood and picked up her bag. 'I'll see you lot later, all right.'

'See you, Andy,' Bella said with a distracted smile. Narcissa frowned and looked as though she was about to call Andromeda back, so she made her exit quick.

She was nearly running as she reached the door to the Great Hall, but a hand caught her shoulder. Thinking it was Narcissa, Andromeda whirled around to fob her off with another excuse and came face to face with Ted, who looked concerned.

'Where's the fire?' he asked. 'Are you all right, Andy?'

'I'm fine, really, just let go of me …'

Over his shoulder she could see Narcissa stand up, looking confusedly at her and Ted, who were standing in clear view of the Slytherin table.

'Not until you tell me what's wrong,' he said, frowning. 'You really look upset, Andy – did your sister say something to you?'

Narcissa got Bellatrix's attention and gestured towards the doorway. Bella looked up, frowned, and began to stride towards them. Andromeda tried her best to plead with him.

'Trust me, Ted, you really ought to let go of me right now …'

'No, I won't. Tell me what's wrong.'

'Ted, please …'

'Tell me what it is, Andy.'

'Is this mudblood bothering you, Andy?' Bella asked, standing behind Ted. She was much taller than he was, even though he was by no means short for his age. He let go of Andromeda's arm but his eyes didn't leave her face.

'He's not –'

'It's Tonks, isn't it.' Bella said. It wasn't a question. 'You should know better than to think you can address my sister, let alone touch her.'

'I think Andromeda is capable of deciding for herself who can speak to her,' Ted said quietly, still studying Andromeda's face. She avoided his eyes, not wanting to give anything away to Bella.

'She is,' Bella said dangerously. 'And she doesn't want to speak to you, mudblood. Why don't you just run along and leave her alone?'

Ted didn't move. He stared at Andromeda.

'Andy?'

Andromeda glanced between Ted's imploring gaze and her sister's imperious scowl. Her eyes travelled down to Bella's right hand, where she held her wand in a white-knuckled grip.

She had a sudden moment of clarity where she knew what would happen if she were to stick up for Ted. Bella didn't care that the teachers were all nearby, watching her every move. She didn't care how badly she hurt Ted – he was just a mudblood to her, a nobody. She knew curses that Andromeda wouldn't have used even if she had known how – of this she was absolutely certain. Andromeda knew all this, and she knew that she couldn't let her sister loose on the boy who thought of himself as her sort-of friend.

If that meant hurting his feelings then … well, at least he'd probably leave her alone after this.

'Leave it, Bella,' she said, layering her voice with the aristocratic tones of the Blacks. 'It's not as though I could be bothered by a mudblood like him.' With a flick of her hair she swept from the hall, but not before seeing Ted's heart break.

Bella hastened to follow. Andromeda collected herself together – fifteen years of living as a Black had given her a special talent for not showing her true feelings when the moment really called for it. Besides, she knew she had acted for the best.

'Who does he think he is, anyway?' she demanded angrily. 'Grabbing your arm like that! Are you sure it doesn't bother you?'

'Entirely too bold,' Narcissa agreed, coming up on Andromeda's other side. 'I can't imagine how difficult it must be for you, Andy, having to share a house with filth like that.'

'He has an unhealthy fixation with me,' Andromeda sighed, thinking that this, at least, was true. 'I try not to encourage him.'

'I will cure him of his fixation,' Bella growled, half-turning back towards the hall, but Andromeda caught her arm.

'No,' she said quickly. 'I'll deal with it. He's harmless really.'

Bella stared at her for a moment, and then relented.

'All right. I have to let you fight your own battles, I suppose.' She sighed heavily.

Andromeda smiled at her big sister. She always looked out for the other two. No matter what dark things she was getting involved in, Bellatrix would always be there for them.

The three sisters stood together in an empty corridor for a moment.

'I should go and write that essay, I guess,' Andromeda said with a shrug. Bella and Cissy smiled and kissed her goodnight before heading back to their own common room.

As Andromeda climbed the stair to Ravenclaw tower, she thought about what she had just said to Ted. She felt bad, because despite everything he had been very kind to her and had shown tremendous faith in her. She didn't like to think that she could hurt him after everything. But she knew that it was nothing compared to how hurt he would have been if she had given Bella a reason to lay into him.

She sighed as she lay down on her bed for a moment and stared up at the canopy. She felt ill again, which was odd because if anything, what she had just done had been the opposite of rebellion. She frowned. It shouldn't matter that she had hurt Ted's feelings. Especially since it had been the right thing to do.

Hopefully he would work out that she hadn't meant it. He had to know that she was only protecting him from Bellatrix – didn't he? He was a smart boy. Surely he would figure it out.

He couldn't stay mad at her forever. Hadn't he been the one to say that it was only a word?

She rolled over, feeling positively wretched.

It was done. There was no going back on words that had already been said.

Hopefully, he would leave her alone for good.

Far from making her feel better, that prospect filled her with inexplicable terror.

_Oh, Andy, Andy, Andy … review and tell me what you think! Don't be too hard on poor Andy as she's just a silly wee girl. Each review earns a small parade!_


	5. Chapter the fourth

**One Black Sheep**

**1000 HITS ZOMFG! **As a reward, er…. you all have my undying gratitude. How about 1000 reviews? (lol, ok. how about 30?)

_Updates! Sorry, it's been a while. I've written a lot of oneshots, but four chapters is often where I hit a block on these serial fics. This is (by far, and rather surprisingly) my most popular story on Fanfic net, huzzah! That means you can expect it to gain some priority, although 'Loved and Lost' is still my favourite. And of course, though rather sadly, school takes priority even over that. Stupid school. Unfortunately I have not yet come up with a way to combine fanfiction and architecture – if anyone comes up with one, I'd be glad to hear it._

_Disclaimer: Potterverse is JK Rowling's. JK Rowling is not me, although I shouldn't have to tell you that._

**Chapter the fourth: In which Andromeda considers family values, and Ted writes a Christmas card.**

A few days later and it was time for the Christmas break. She hadn't spoken to Ted since, and she thought that he was probably avoiding her. Although this had been what she'd wanted, she couldn't help but feel uneasy. She hoped that he knew that she had only been protecting him from Bella. Surely it had been obvious?

The three Black sisters boarded the train and took a compartment with a few others from Slytherin – Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, Nadhezda Wilkes (a girlfriend of Bella's) and, because they couldn't think of a reason to keep him out, Severus Snape. The sallow-skinned, hook-nosed boy was in Narcissa's year – a constant prey of Sirius and James's pranks, and not very popular even in his own house. Andromeda surveyed him calculatingly as he pored over a thick Defence against the Dark Arts textbook. She didn't trust him. If Sirius didn't like him, that was enough reason for her to keep a wary eye.

Bella treated him with disdain, when she acknowledged him at all, and Narcissa mostly pretended that he didn't exist. Rabastan tolerated him, and was the one who allowed him to tag along.

Bella was discussing an article in the newspaper with Rodolphus and Nadhezda in very serious, hushed voices. Narcissa was bickering good-naturedly with Rabastan about the merits of quidditch as a sport (as opposed to shopping, which in Narcissa's opinion far outclassed it), and Andromeda, in between watching Snape out of narrowed eyes, was working on some extra credit Arithmancy problems.

She was having trouble concentrating, even on sending disapproving glances in the second-year's direction. The restless, uneasy feeling that she was forgetting something, the feeling that she'd had ever since … the _Tonks _incident … was only getting worse as the train sped away from school. She sighed inwardly. She couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, she hadn't done the right thing after all.

'Andy!' Narcissa prodded her in the ribs and she jumped.

'What did you do that for?' Andromeda demanded.

'You looked about a million miles away,' Narcissa replied with a grin. 'I'm sick of these boys, Andy.' Here she turned and stuck out her tongue at Rabastan, who responded in kind before going back to the conversation he was attempting to start up with Snape. 'Do you want to go for a walk along the train?'

Andromeda closed her textbook and put it to one side.

'Sure, Cissy. Let's go.'

The two sisters headed out into the corridor and headed along the length of the train. Narcissa was in a good mood and was bouncing along happily, gossiping about something one of her girlfriends had done with some fourth-year the other week, when someone hurtled out of a compartment to her right and pulled her to the ground.

She screamed, and faces began to appear at compartment doors all along the corridor.

'Sirius _Black!_ Get _off!_'

Andromeda giggled as she watched her cousin disentangle himself from Narcissa and straighten up with a grin.

'Sorry, Narcissa. Didn't see you there. Hey Andy.'

'Hello, Sirius. Getting yourself into more trouble, are you?'

Sirius shook his head as James Potter poked his head out of the compartment he had just been thrown from.

'I _told_ you I'd been practising!' he said triumphantly.

Narcissa pulled herself to her feet with a disapproving 'Hrumph!' noise.

Sirius grinned more widely still at the appearance of his best friend. Seeing that the situation was just a case of second-year high spirits, most people disappeared back into their respective compartments.

'Good one, James! You'll teach me that, right?'

James laughed. 'Not a chance, mate. It's been a long time since I had you on the floor. Hey Andy, Narcissa,' he added to the girls. 'Get tired of that Slytherin lot, did you?'

Narcissa stuck her nose into the air, an expression Andromeda had caught her practising in the mirror on more than one occasion.

'They're much better company than you _delinquents_,' she said sniffily. Sirius laughed again; a short, sharp sound.

'Aw, cousin dear, we're not so bad,' he said, batting his dark eyelashes at her. Andromeda watched as her younger sister fought the urge to laugh.

'Yeah,' James agreed with a wicked grin. 'We're a lot better company than old _Snivellus_, at any rate.'

'Sniv-'

'It's their name for Snape,' Narcissa explained loftily before Andromeda could even voice the question. 'Thoroughly immature, don't you agree?'

James and Sirius subsided into laughter, as though Narcissa had said something terribly funny. She frowned at them, trying to work out if they were laughing at _her_.

'Yes, terribly,' Andromeda agreed through barely suppressed giggles.

'Excuse me, what's going on here?' asked an officious voice. The little group turned to meet Marlene McKinnon, a tall, thin girl from Andromeda's house and year. They shared a dormitory but did not often speak to each other – the McKinnons had been blasted off the pureblood records several generations back for being a big bunch of blood-traitors in much the same way as the Prewetts had. She vaguely recalled that Marlene was a prefect.

Sirius stepped forward. 'We were just practising a bit of duelling –'

'No magic on the train,' Marlene snapped with a glare. 'Black, isn't it? That'll be a point from Slytherin.'

Sirius appeared affronted.

'I'm a _Gryffindor_,' he said with a sneer, and James stepped forward to be at his right hand.

'That's right he is,' he said. 'If we're going to be losing any points, it'll be from Gryffindor; if you don't mind.'

'_Two points from Gryffindor, then_!' Marlene spat. Andromeda attempted a smile at the girl.

'Oh come on, Marlene, they didn't hurt anyone – just a bit of high spirits –'

'Don't you try to talk me out of it, Andromeda Black,' she said testily. 'You're lucky I don't take points from you as well – especially after what you said to poor Ted.'

She turned with a flick of her long brown hair and stalked off down the train. Narcissa poked her tongue out at the prefect's retreating back, not noticing the look of absolute shock on her sister's face.

'Ug, what an absolute _cow. _Andy, to be a prefect in Ravenclaw is it _required_ to be a perfect idiot?'

Andromeda's expression at Marlene's parting comment did not go unnoticed by James and Sirius, however.

'What did you do to Ted Tonks?' James asked suspiciously. Andromeda blinked.

'I –'

'She told him to stay away from her, of course,' Narcissa supplied in a high-and-mighty voice. 'Stupid little mudblood –'

James made a noise of pure outrage and Sirius held out a hand to stop him from doing anything rash.

'Easy, mate,' he warned, before turning to Narcissa with a glare. 'You know, that's a really ugly word.'

Narcissa's laugh was airy and high-pitched.

'Well, that's what he is,' she said. 'Andy even told him so.'

The boys turned to Andromeda with looks of absolute horror on their faces.

'You _didn't_!' James exclaimed. 'No wonder that McKinnon girl doesn't like you – I thought you said she was the nice one?' he added to Sirius.

'Come on, James,' Sirius muttered, pushing his friend back into the compartment, as he sent Andromeda a disappointed look. Andromeda sighed – she didn't like it when Sirius looked at her like that, as though he thought she'd done something terribly stupid …

But she hadn't, had she? Had it really been so bad?

Sirius was only twelve. Why did it bother her so much when he looked at her like that? Granted, she had always been his special favourite, his secret confidante – Bella had taken little Regulus under her wing but Andromeda and Sirius had always been the closest.

She didn't like to think that she had somehow let him down, even if she wasn't sure how it had happened.

It really hadn't been that bad … had it? She tried to think of a time she had heard Sirius say the word 'mudblood', but couldn't recall any instances. How strange.

But Ted Tonks would be fine, wouldn't he?

After all, he'd said himself that it was just a word.

Narcissa rolled her eyes as the door to the boys' compartment slid shut with a bang. 'That Potter boy is a nasty little blood-traitor,' she said matter-of-factly. 'I'm surprised that Auntie Walburga lets Sirius hang out with him – he's a bad influence.'

Andromeda frowned at her sister. 'I like James,' she said quietly – so quietly, indeed, that Narcissa appeared not to hear her.

'Come on, Andy. Some of my friends are in a compartment just down the way, we'll go visit …' She pulled at Andromeda's hand and the older girl reluctantly followed, although all she really wanted to do was go and talk to Sirius and James about what had happened with Ted, and find a way to justify her actions.

_Later_, she promised herself. For now she followed Narcissa meekly, wondering vaguely how Marlene McKinnon had even found out about the entire mess.

--

Ted groaned as he pulled himself out of bed. It was the first day of the holidays, after all – he felt he was overdue for a bit of a lie-in. Most of the students had left that morning on the train. Ted normally went home to his family – especially at Christmas – but this year his parents had decided to go away to America and take his younger sister Genevieve, so he had decided to stay at Hogwarts and Nathaniel, his older brother, was staying at his University. Fabian had stayed behind too; because, as he put it:

'It'll just be Molly and Arthur being lovey-dovey and Gideon being the world's biggest git, so I think I'll pass.'

But Ted knew that Fabian had really stuck around to keep him company, because he really did love being with his older brother and sister. They'd both been in Gryffindor – Gideon three years ahead and Molly four. Fabian was one of the only people in his family to ever have been sorted into a different house.

Molly was engaged to be married at the end of the year to Arthur Weasley, a young man who had seemed nice enough from what Ted had known of him at Hogwarts. From what Fabian had said, he had a strange fascination with muggles, but Ted thought that this was probably a better thing to be interested in than some of the obsessions a pureblood wizard _could_ have.

Now, if only he could manage to get Andromeda Black to see the appeal of Muggle Studies …

He cringed and slumped on the edge of his bed, cradling his head in his hands. He couldn't understand why he kept thinking about Andromeda Black. He always seemed to catch himself at it wherever he was, whatever he was doing – it was killing him, because eventually he would remember her words in the Great Hall and he would feel like a complete idiot. Fabian kept asking what the point was in fantasising about a girl who looked at him like he was something unpleasant on the bottom of her shoe, and even Ted had to agree that it was completely daft. What had possessed him to even talk to her in the first place?

As if he didn't know the answer to that already.

She was … intriguing. Ted had always been naturally curious about things that were bound to get him into trouble. Of course, he never realised just how _much_ trouble until he was well and truly up to his neck in it.

He was in trouble now, by God.

He couldn't get her out of his head. He'd tried – he'd tried, because Fabian was right, because it was completely stupid, because he knew it would never end well. He'd tried – but no matter what, she was stuck in there. She was this grand enigma that he just had to get to the bottom of, no matter what. He needed to know everything about her. He couldn't rest unless he did. He had to get her to laugh. Just once.

Fabian sat up in his bed, stretching and yawning.

'Mornin,' he said thickly, still half asleep.

'It's nearly noon,' Ted replied, his thoughts still far away.

'So 'tis,' Fabian murmured, checking the watch on his bedside table. 'What we got planned for the afternoon, then?'

Ted shrugged. 'Dunno. I still have to write out some Christmas cards.'

'Boring,' Fabian groaned, falling back into bed. 'Wake me up if anything exciting happens, will you?'

Ted rolled his eyes and grinned at his friend.

'You're a git, that's what you are,' he declared, throwing a pillow at Fabian's reclining form. An arm was raised sleepily to bat it away.

'At least I'm not boring,' came the reply, muffled by the blankets he was pulling up over his head.

Ted laughed. 'Well, I'm going to get dressed and be boring somewhere other than the dormitory.' He picked up a pair of jeans and tugged them on. 'At least I'm not going to stay in bed all day.'

All that could be heard from Fabian's bed was a barely perceptible grunt. Ted laughed again and resumed his search for his other sock.

--

Number twelve Grimmauld Place, the ancient Black family homestead, was dark and forbidding. Andromeda didn't much care for it at all. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to live there all the time, but somehow Sirius and Regulus managed.

Of course, it didn't stop the heir to the line complaining about it at every opportunity.

'I tell you, when I come into my inheritance this whole place is going to be knocked to the ground,' muttered Sirius as he idly tore off a loose strip of wallpaper. They were in the boys' bedroom – Narcissa, Andromeda, Regulus and Sirius – sitting about and chatting while their mothers and took tea. Bella was downstairs too – at sixteen, she was considered old enough to join in on adult business.

'You would never, Sirius,' Narcissa laughed. 'This house has been in the family for hundreds of years – Uncle Alphard told us so. You can't just tear it down!'

Sirius raised an eyebrow at her.

'It'll be _my_ house, and I'll do what I damn well please,' he said archly. Andromeda flicked her eyes up from the textbook she'd been flicking through as Regulus began to snigger.

'Language, Sirius,' Andromeda scolded. He shot her a scowl.

'You're a fine one to talk, cousin,' he said testily. She frowned.

'If you're talking about that Tonks boy again –'

'Just forget it,' he muttered. 'Grab the cards, Reggie. We'll play some Exploding Snap.'

Regulus jumped up immediately – Andromeda knew he was excited because Sirius didn't often want to play with him anymore. He began to deal the cards and Sirius watched despondently. Narcissa leaned back into the headboard of Regulus' bed, where she was sitting.

'You act as though Andy did something wrong, Sirius,' she said, rolling her eyes at her older sister to show how silly she thought their cousin was being. 'I've heard you call Severus Snape worse names than 'mudblood'.'

'Cissy, don't start …' Andromeda sighed.

But Sirius was already rising to her bait.

'Snape's a slimy git who deserves everything coming to him,' he growled. 'You can't even begin to compare him with Ted Tonks.'

Narcissa laughed girlishly.

'He's just some stupid muggleborn. Why do you care so much, Sirius?'

Sirius scowled at her.

'You've got no idea what you're saying, do you? Ted Tonks is a _wizard_, and a human being. He's got just as much right not to be called horrid names as you do. More right, if you're going to be so stupid about things like this.'

Narcissa frowned. It looked as though she was at a loss for words.

'It's your turn, Sirius,' Regulus piped up timidly.

'Forget it. I'm out of here.' Sirius threw his cards down on the floor and stalked out of the room. Narcissa glared at the door he had slammed shut in his wake.

'Why does he say things like that?' she wondered sniffily. 'He sounds like a regular blood-traitor sometimes.'

Regulus gasped. Andromeda looked sharply at her sister.

'That's a terrible thing to say about Sirius,' she admonished.

'Well, he _does_,' Narcissa pouted. 'It's that Potter boy putting odd ideas in his head. And that Lily Evans mudblood in his house. I heard mother say so to Bella.'

Andromeda rolled her eyes. 'You know, Cissy – that actually is an ugly word.'

'_You_ used it!'

'Yes, but I plan to apologise as soon as we get back to school,' Andromeda promised herself. Some of the things Sirius had said actually made a lot of sense. If she had time to think about it, she would wonder how a twelve-year-old could explain a concept that adults three times his age had failed to make clear.

Narcissa's lip curled.

'You sound just like he does!' she accused. 'What do you care if you hurt that mudblood's feelings?'

'Narcissa Black,' Andromeda said sternly, bringing out the 'mother' voice that never failed to get on Narcissa's nerves. 'If you can't keep a civil tongue in your head then I shall have to ask you to leave.'

Narcissa wrinkled her nose.

'I don't get you, Andy,' she declared, before sliding from the bed and imitating Sirius's earlier exit. Andromeda cringed along with Regulus as the door slammed shut for the second time.

There was a pause as the dust of the argument began to settle.

'Andy?' Regulus said meekly. Andromeda turned her attention to her youngest cousin, still sitting surrounded by the discarded playing cards.

'Yeah, Reggie?'

'Did Narcissa mean it when she said Sirius is a blood-traitor?'

'Oh, no – of course not.' Andromeda moved from the bed to embrace the tiny form of the six-year-old. He was sniffling a little – Reggie had always been the most sensitive of the children, probably because he had always been the baby of the family. Andromeda also knew how much he worshipped Sirius.

'She didn't mean it – she's just being silly,' she assured him.

'I don't want my big brother to be a blood traitor,' Reggie hiccoughed.

'He's not, Reggie – I promise he isn't. He cares too much about his family – about you. Narcissa doesn't know what she's talking about.'

'What about Bella?'

Andromeda paused.

'Bella too. They don't know Sirius like you and me.'

Regulus stared up at her with his big, dark eyes.

'Is 'mudblood' really a bad word, Andy? I hear mother and father use it all the time.'

Andromeda thought about this for a while.

'It's certainly not a nice thing to say to someone's face – even if they are muggleborn,' she said finally. 'It's like – well, we all know that Narcissa's absolutely hopeless at charms, but it's not very nice to point it out to her, because she can't help it.'

Regulus smiled.

'I'm good at charms. Sirius taught me.'

Andromeda laughed. 'Yes, I'm sure you are. But you wouldn't want to make Narcissa feel bad by rubbing it in her face that you can do something she can't, would you?'

Regulus shook his head.

'No. I wouldn't want to hurt her feelings. That would be mean.'

'Exactly. So calling someone a name just because they're muggleborn isn't nice either, because they can't help it.'

Regulus appeared to consider this for a moment.

'But Narcissa said that you called a boy at Hogwarts that name,' he pointed out. Andromeda sighed.

'I did,' she admitted. 'And it was a mean thing to do, and I feel terribly, and I'm going to tell him that I'm sorry. Just because he's muggleborn, it doesn't mean I can't be civil to him.'

'I can't believe that you would do something wrong, Andy. You're always so good.'

Andromeda smiled at him. 'We all make mistakes, Reggie. Sirius, Narcissa, Bella – even me.'

Regulus nodded solemnly.

'You're smart, Andy,' he decided. 'Maybe I'll go find Sirius and see if he wants to play now.'

'Okay, Reggie.'

Regulus picked up the cards and headed for the door.

'Wait!' Andromeda called. 'Tell Sirius … tell Sirius that I'm sorry.'

'For what?'

'For acting like Bella,' she said. 'Tell him I'm going to put it right.'

Regulus nodded and disappeared from the room. Andromeda settled back onto the bed thoughtfully.

Poor little Reggie, she thought. It was hard enough for _her_ to work out how her family worked – she couldn't imagine how a six-year-old could ever hope to manage it. With time, he would understand. He would understand that there were certain expectations that came with being a Black. He would understand that the traditions of the family were unchangeable and ever-looming in the lives of those born under the 'toujours pur' banner.

And he would struggle with how to apply those traditions in a modern world where being a pureblood and upholding the ideals of the old families put you in a definite minority.

Yes, there were those who grew up in their world who never questioned the old values. Bella was like that. And Narcissa was headed that way too. But Andromeda liked to think that Regulus, who above all else wanted to be just like his big brother Sirius, would ask those questions.

Andromeda wondered if Sirius was so different because he had been sorted into Gryffindor with James Potter. In Slytherin, if you wanted to be different, you had to be so in secret. Being accepted was everything in Slytherin – although Andromeda was not a member of that house, she hung out with her sisters and their friends enough to know this. You had to make the right connections, and to do that you had to say the right things.

Purity of blood. That was important, yes.

Andromeda could accept that. That's what they'd always been taught, after all. And past that certain point, she had never questioned it. Family values ran deep.

Until a certain boy had caught her eye for the briefest of moments across the library that autumn afternoon.

Sirius had James Potter to show him that right and wrong was a matter of perspective. And now, Andromeda had Ted Tonks to make her question everything that she thought she'd always know.

She felt a bit like Reggie, really – whatever she did, she didn't want to let Sirius down. She wanted to show him that even though he was the Gryffindor, he wasn't the only Black brave enough to ask the right questions. They would figure this out together, she decided – in their own way but at the same time, and at the end of it all they would be able to show the family how old traditions could be translated into a modern world.

--

Ted Tonks tapped his quill on the page in front of him, making little puddles of ink over the parchment. It was three days until Christmas.

He'd sent an owl to his parents and sister, and another to his big brother. He'd sent a card to his fellow prefect Marlene McKinnon, who was a nice girl if a little bossy at times, and one to Fabian's family since they had had him to stay over the summer. He'd also sent messages to the other boys who shared the dorm with him and Fabian, and a couple of friends from other houses like Frank Longbottom, the Hufflepuff.

Basically, he'd sent a seasonal greeting to everyone he spoke to on a regular basis. And yet …

And yet here he was still sitting at a table in the common room, a piece of parchment in front of him, wondering if this was just a phase like Fabian said or if he really was going mad.

_To Andromeda Black._

It was as far as he'd been able to get. Even those words had taken five minutes to settle on. He sighed and put the tip of the quill to the page again.

_Merry Christmas._

Well, that was a given. Not too difficult.

_Hope you have been enjoying the break_.

It was probably best to keep it generic, in any case. Keep it friendly. Keep it free of anything that actually _meant_ anything.

_Which might actually prove easier said than done,_ he thought ruefully

_Hogwarts is fun with not many students about. I'm kind of glad that Mum and Dad went off to America for this trip and gave me this Christmas here._

_Hope you're well and that your Christmas turns out fine._

_With best wishes for the season,_

_Ted Tonks._

He studied it critically. Yeah, that seemed all right. A bit boring, though.

There should be some way to show that he thought the whole incident had just been some sort of grand joke. Laugh it off; that was the way. If you could laugh at yourself, people didn't quite know what to do next.

He thought for a moment, and then added a postscript.

_P.S: Don't think I've forgotten about your Muggle Studies education. You've just proven to me that you need it more than I could ever have imagined. Merry Christmas, and I'll see you in the New Year!_

He grinned. _That should do it_.


End file.
